Where ideas go to die
by muishiki
Summary: This is nothing more than a steaming pile of crap. These are plot bunnies and incomplete one offs that I probably will never complete or expand upon, so I'm putting them up for adoption.
1. Chapter 1

"ARRRRG!"

Akane stomped around the dojo, her frustration physically voiced while Ranma muttered to himself about uncute, clumsy tomboys.

He'd always been loath to train her before, but after so many close calls and the wedding fiasco he had to start taking it seriously. At the point when the wedding had been bombed, Akane's skills had atrophied to the point where she would hardly have been a challenge for Ukyo, let alone for Xian Pu.

He vowed to fix it. So Ranma had started training her in the basic kata of the Saotome School, working on her balance and speed because she had enough power already. What was lacking was her footwork. She was too grounded, too linear to really be effective against an opponent who could move.

In short, she sucked. If her opponent had half a brain and a bit of mobility, she was screwed. Unless they were stupid enough or enjoyed just taking blows, Akane didn't stand a chance against the normal caliber of opponent who showed up at the Dojo looking for a fight.

And that's why he was in the Dojo with her, well past when they should have gone to bed, waiting for her to blow off enough steam that he run her through another kata. He'd only been really training her for a few weeks now, and he was already second guessing if it was a good idea. They'd been going at it for a couple of hours, and she'd long since doffed her gi top, wearing just a sweat-darkened tee shirt and thin pants that showed of her muscles pretty clearly. And because if it, he could see exactly where she was going wrong. He winced as he watched her complete the set and nearly stumble from her foot placement.

"Ya gotta relax your hips into the turn and twist more into the punch. Otherwise you'll leave your chest too open and you'll never get the round house kick off with enough speed to regain your balance."

Akane huffed and glared at him. "Are you just going to harp at me or help me fix it?"

"I'm tryin', Akane." He stepped out from in front of her where he had been acting as her sparing partner, running the other half of the kata. "I can't tell you any plainer than I am what you're doing wrong. You're too stiff up in your shoulders and you ain't movin' your feet enough."

He could see the tick developing in her eyes that told him she was getting ready to get real mad. Okay, time to try a different tactic. "Look, I want to try something, okay?"

She narrowed her eyes. "This had better not be a hair-brained scheme like your father would think of."

"No, nothing like that. Promise! I just want you to run through it again, okay? When you get stiff, I'm going to touch you where you need to relax so that the whole thing flows better."

She looked at him for a second before nodding. "Alright."

She got in a ready stance and Ranma moved behind her. Before she even began, he reached forward and touched the muscles of her neck.

"Too tense here. Relax."

He could hear her teeth grinding. "I am."

"Well, then, relax more." He waited, and eventually the tension left her shoulders. "Good. Now relax here." He touched the base of her spine, right above her pelvis. It took her a while, but eventually she was able to release those muscles as well. The process continued as he touched her hips, outer edge of her thighs, and her calves. Once she'd managed to relax all the muscles adequately, he started from the top again; making her go through the process one last time until he was satisfied she was actually loose enough to properly perform the kata.

He stepped aside and watched as she ran through it. It was better, but she was still tense.

"How did that feel?"

Akane nodded. "Better. Faster."

"But you were still tense, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Let's try it again. This time I'm going to point out where you're tensing unnecessarily as you move, okay?"

She nodded and then took a ready stance. Again he move behind her and touched her back where he could see the muscles clenching through her shirt. She tensed immediately after starting the kata, keeping him busy with light touches to the muscles he could see that needed to relax in order to propel her through the motions necessary to maintain her balance. They ran through it a few more times, but she started making stupid mistakes because she was approaching exhaustion.

"Let's call it a night."

She shook her head. "I'm not finished yet."

"Yes you are. Go take a bath."

She looked ready to argue, but he just crossed his arms and looked at her. In the end, she gave a small snort and collected her gi top before heading out of the dojo.

Ranma stayed behind, thinking about ways he could get her to relax enough to able to maintain her balance in a fight. The fact that he was willing to consider it showed exactly how much things had changed since the failed wedding attempt.

It started with an innocuous comment that Akane had made running to school the morning after the wedding fiasco. It was, in the grand scheme of things, a very small comment, and on any normal day he probably wouldn't have noticed. He kept fluctuating between relief that he wasn't married, disbelief that Akane had actually wanted to marry him, regret that he wasn't married, anger at the people who ruined the ceremony, and a confusion as to how things had ever gotten this far. In short, he'd been walking on eggshells around her, and maybe because of it he'd paid a bit more attention to her than normal.

Soun's lecture had held them up a bit, and they didn't get out the door till much later than normal. He was also distracted with all the various emotions running through him, so, rather than take to the fence tops like normal, he ran along side Akane to school.

"This is nice."

He grunted, but took his eyes off the road for a second to glance over at her. She was smiling, eyes shining as she concentrated on keeping up. Later, when he was getting ready to walk home from school with her, he had glanced down from his normal vantage point from on top of the fence. Because he was looking, he saw a brief flash of disappointment on Akane's face. He chewed his lip slightly, and with a shrug hopped down and walked beside her once they got out of eyesight of the school. The look of surprise and delight when he walked home the rest of the way had made it worth it.

And then he started to notice other small things that had changed after the wedding fiasco. He noticed she didn't get angry quite as quickly anymore. It threw him off at first, but then he started watching her a bit more closely when he talked, watching for a slight… hesitation before responding to his comments that indicated he'd said something stupid. When he noticed it, he knew it was time to back off and start explaining.

And often times, she let him. Sure, he got pounded still, but he was getting a lot better at realizing what set her off. The more he did it, the easier it was to read her, and the fewer blunders he made. It really took a couple of months before he got the hang of it, and sure he still pulled a couple bone-headed moves, but in general life was pretty good and they were getting along a lot better.

And then he'd started training her. She wasn't a bad student, but she was just so freakin' stubborn that she drove him crazy. He got up off the dojo floor and walked out to the veranda where his dad and Mr. Tendo were still playing shogi. They both ignored him, used to his sour moods after training a training session with Akane. The steady click clack of the tiles relaxed him a bit as he thought about his problems.

"Yo, Pops?"

Genma looked up from the board, a little surprised at being addressed. "What is it, Ranma?"

"How did you get me to relax when you were teaching me kata?"

Genma adjusted his glasses. "I didn't have too. You considered it fun, and it was relaxing for you."

"That's really unhelpful."

"Is there a problem?" Genma asked.

He shrugged. "Akane can't relax when she's moving. It throws her balance all off."

"Hmm…" Genma scratched his chin. "That is a problem. Good luck!" With a smile, he turned back to the board, only to glare at Soun. "Soun… The board wasn't always like this, was it?"

"I'm shocked, Saotome-kun, shocked, that you'd accuse me thus!"

Ranma snorted and left, ignoring the bickering as he worked his way into the living area. The TV was on and showing some dumb American program. He was going to turn it off, until he saw exactly what it was. Fascinated, he continued to watch as some hulky sportsman twirled a lithe young woman across the floor.

"Ranma?"

He tore his attention away from the television. "Yeah Kasumi?"

"Do you want to take a bath now?"

"Do I hafta?"

Kasumi smiled slightly. "You've got school tomorrow. It's already late enough as it is."

"I guess yer right."

Ranma turned the television off with a sigh and headed to the bathroom. Unfortunately, he was still pondering what he had seen on television and missed the sign on the door that the bathroom was occupied. He undressed and flung his dirty clothes in the hamper before grabbing a washcloth and heading inside. He opened the door in time to see Akane stepping out of the bath.

"RANMA!"

"ACK! Sorry!"

He shut his eyes and slammed the door closed on reflex, covering his nakedness with his washcloth. He heard the bathroom door open and cringed on reflex.

""Cover up, will you?" Honestly!" A towel hit him in the chest, causing him to drop the washcloth as he caught it. He quickly wrapped the towel around his waist, careful to keep his eyes closed.

Akane harrumphed and brushed by him, humming a tune. The scent of her shampoo causing his nose to twitch as he felt the wind of her passage on his skin. Eyes still closed, he heard the rustling of clothes behind him as she started to get dressed.

"Um... Akane?"

"What?"

Her voice didn't sound particularly upset.

"Aren't you... ugh... mad?"

"Hmmm. I guess so." There was some more rustling as he listened to her comb her hair. "Next time, ask first."

He heard the door behind him open and close, leaving him standing alone in the changing room blinking rapidly.

"Ask what?"

The empty bathroom didn't reply to his question.

The next day, after dinner was finished and homework completed, he met Akane back in the dojo with a CD player. She looked at him funny as he put it in the corner of the room and loaded it with some music.

"What's that for?"

"I want to try something. You need to learn to relax and move, right?"

Defensive, she nodded.

"So, I'm gonna teach you how to do that."

"How?"

"Easy." He pressed play on the CD player, and music filled the hall. Nodding his head to the beat, he stepped up to Akane and took a ready stance. "Alright. Let's try something a bit different tonight. I want you to stand up straight, arms at your sides, head up and muscles relaxed."

She did as instructed, a look of puzzlement on her face. "Okay, now what?"

With that, he stepped up to her her and gently began to thread his right hand through the gap in the ribs on her left side and her bicep.

She reacted immediately by trapping his hand on her ribs and turning into his body and tossing him over her hip in a textbook judo throw, slamming him onto the floor.

Starring down at him, she crossed her arms under her breasts as she asked, "and what was that, exactly?"

With a groan, he rolled over and stood up. "I was gonna dance with ya to teach you how to move and stay relaxed, you macho chick."

She opened her mouth to yell back, but stopped. She looked puzzled. "What?"

"You're too tense. I was gonna see if you could learn to relax and move, you know?"

"Since when could you dance?"

Ranma snorted and jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb. "I happen to be a martial arts ballroom dancing champion, ya know."

"Did your father put you up to this?"

"For once, no. This is my own hair-brained scheme. I saw it on TV last night, and thought it might be worth trying."

Akane put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. "It sounds like an excuse to put your hands on me."

He rolled his eyes. "What makes you think I'd want to put my hands on you? Besides, if I wanted to, you couldn't stop me."

Akane snorted. "So you think."

"So I know." He cracked his neck.

"Then prove it."

Instantly there air was thick with tension as Akane just realized what she said. Ranma arched an eyebrow at her, but she just stared back at him defiantly, if a bit nervously.

Ranma stretched theatrically as she dropped into a ready stance, using the kata he's showed her the day before. "Alright," he drawled, "you asked for it. I'll even be nice and let you tell me where it's safe to put my hands, just so you don't get the wrong idea or nuthin'." He looked down at his knuckles, examining them closely to avoid her eyes. "Then, there's a question of what I get out of this little bet."

"I never said it was a bet." Akane shifted her feet nervously.

"You wanted me to prove it, didn't you?"

"But I didn't say it was a bet."

"Hmmf." Ranma relaxed out of his stance. "So basically, I get nothin' out of provin' it to ya except making you mad, huh? That doesn't sound like much fun to me. If I'm gonna go through the trouble of doing this, I want something out of it, ya know?"

Akane licked her lips. "Umm... How about I cook dinner for you?"

"If you said _not _cook dinner for me, deal."

"You jerk!"

"Well?"

"How about we just do this stupid dancing thing instead?"

"I don't know. You're the teacher."

"This isn't much different than what I was doing last night when I was poking you."

"And what's that?"

"Getting you to relax when you move. Your balance sucks 'cause you tense up so much." He could she her grinding her teeth. "Look, you want to get better, or what?"

"Yes." She practically spat out the answer.

"Good. Then trust me."


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto sucks at genjustu because it takes precise control and small amounts of chakra. What if he bypassed that issue by simply casting AOE genjutsu so large it basically captured a village? He would have the ability to basically alter the reality of everyone around him. It would be a once a day kind of thing, with a massive amount of chakra molded quickly. He has the imagination. What kind of genjutsu would he cast? Something demanding respect and adoration, which he would quickly grow bored with. What would he do next? He'd try a series of things, pranks, gags, and jokes, but eventually would realize that life was empty when living in an illusion. He'd end the illusion and concentrate on real life, as what he's doing would be too close to the moon-eye plan to make him comfortable.

When would this take place? This would take place while in the academy, I think. It would change his outlook on life dramatically; fantasy might be better than reality, but you can't live in a fantasy. It would be a darker look at psychology.


	3. Chapter 3

What would have happened had Ranma not been such a chicken early on in the series? What if he had actually kissed Akane in the very beginning, right after she teased him about being kissed by Sanzennin?

Golden Pairing:

"I swear, Ranma. Taking parting in a skating match even though you can't skate at all!" Akane held on to one of Ranma's currently female hands as she dragged the flailing aqua-transsexual martial artist around the skating rink.

The pair was engaged due to an agreement between their fathers before they were born. In the weeks since Ranma's arrival, Akane's relatively calm life had been turned upside down.

Between her father's announcement of the engagement and being thrown under the bus by her sisters and saddled with the engagement, Akane's relationship with Ranma could at best be described as confused. They got along to a certain degree, and insults aside, had a lot of common interests. For example, they were both interested in martial arts and getting out of the engagement they found themselves trapped in.

But even more confusing was the fact that they liked each other. They would deny it till blue if confronted with the fact, but even in the short time since Ranma's arrival, a small degree of sexual tension was apparent to everyone but the parties involved. The problem was that neither teenager was emotionally ready or prepared to be saddled with an engagement at sixteen.

The chaos surrounding Ranma's arrival only accelerated. First there had been the business with Kuno and his crush on Ranma's female half, and then the fight between Ryoga and Ranma ended up with Akane losing her hair. Then Kodachi's had attacked the Furinkan rhythmic gymnastic team, necessitating Ranma to appear after Akane was unable to compete in the challenge due to an ankle sprain the night before the competition.

And now, the pair was attempting to train for the martial arts figure skating challenge Ranma had foolishly accepted just the day before.

"Aren't you man? Why don't you try acting like one!" Akane let out an exasperated sigh as she continued to lead her fiancé around the rink.

"Right now I'm a woman, remember?" Ranma said. "Besides, it would look really bad for a man not to be able to skate."

Akane turned around and grabbed both of Ranma's hands, skating backwards as she pulled her wobbling fiancé behind her. "I've got news for you, Ranma. It looks just as bad for a woman who can't skate."

Before Ranma could reply, Akane was knocked to the ground by the speeding form of Shiratori Azuka.

"Oops! Sorry."

"You did that on purpose!" Akane said.

"I don't have the time for that now." Azuka stated. "Your friend…"

The transfer of momentum effectively doubled Ranma's speed, sending her speeding backwards towards the wall of the rink helplessly flailing her arms, trying to maintain her balance.

She was saved from an abrupt and painful stop by a pair of powerful arms as Mikado Sanzenin scooped her up and held her off the ice.

"Have we met before? I would have remembered meeting a girl as cute as you before..."

Before he could continue, he was interrupted, forcefully, by his partner. Together, the Golden Pair of Kolholtz High School proceeded to take on the martial arts hockey team.


	4. Chapter 4

Thought blurb:

Akira/Harry Potter Cross. Either a) voldemort or b) harry potter or c) both! were cut up and dissected at some point and preserved in cryofreeze individual little jars when it became known that the war was ongoing by the muggle population.

London goes up in a ball of white. 25-30 years later, after the third world war ends, and London's a mess. Where the center of London used to be, a large brackish lake now exists. Magic is practically non-existent, a bulk of the wizards and witches having died during the unexplained explosions that triggered WWIII. Those who remain are broken and essentially have lost their magic, or are carefully guarded prisoners of the state, as the state attempts to unlock the secrets of magic.

Enter a group of kids – likely descendents of the great wizarding clans – they are the descendants of the Potter, Weasley, Longbottom children at the end of the 7th book. The kids survived the great catastrophe, but lost their parents, and lost their magic. They stayed close together, and their children have turned into hoodlums, lost in the post war reconstruction and degradations. One of the kids has an encounter with an escaped mage (Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in the role of the test subjects) Frightened, the mage performs some wandless magic, sending one of the kids into a government hospital. Tracks partly with the events of the AKIRA series, as the government is intent on unlocking the secrets of magic. The kid (probably a Potter?) tries to rescue his friend (a weasley) from the government facility. The Weasely has been fed lots of hallucinogenic drugs, causing him to freak out and start with the wandless magic. Turns out a family that supported Voldemort is on the government side – and like the others, he's lost his magic. He is not ignorant of his heritage and is eager to reclaim it.

The hospitalized child's magic is going out of control. He seeks the cryofreeze where potter is frozen in little jars. His magic makes the freeze cycle end, and all the little jars float up to the top. They break, but the child's magic can't reassemble them into a real human. Magic flaring wildly, the child loses control, and starts morphing wildly into various magical creatures. The Potter orphan tries to help, but is losing the battle. Eventually, Harry Potter eventually reappears, along with his two friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasely. They do the mass wipe spell again, and the young out of control mage is sucked in, and the young Potter transported out.

The spell wipes out a great deal of new London, but also resets magic in the world. There was a great imbalance, and that is what caused the young mage to lose control. The Elder potter appears before the younger in his mindscape, and gives him some commands to restart the world of magic. When he reappears in the real world, he finds himself standing outside of the abandoned Hogwarts castle. It jumps to life at his presence, and he walks into the castle halls, eager to learn about this new world he's inherited.


	5. Chapter 5

Outline:

4 Seasons and the various stages of acceptance.

Cast of characters:

Ku Lon - Elder

Happosai - Elder

Ranma – Factotum, tactician

Akane – peace maker

Nabiki – logistics, technology development,

Tofu - doctor

Kasumi - nurse

Soun – requisitions

Genma – requisitions

Nodoka - nursury

Ukyo – food logistics and storage

Konatsu - kenjutsu

Kuno - kendo

Kodachi - horticulture

Akari – heavy lifting, animal husbandry

Ryoga – heavy lifting, mechanic

Shampoo - scout

Mousse – pack horse, mechanic

Hinako – education, curriculum development, and librarian/knowledge management

Taro – Arial support, supplies

Pairs – Ku Lon, Happi (not really) – Akane, Ranma – Ukyo Konatsu – Nabiki Kuno – Tofu – Kasumi – Soun Hinako – Genma Nodoka – Akari Ryoga – Shampoo Mousse – Kodachi Taro.

Fall: Outbreak occurs. Cause unknown.

Ranma spots copters, Akane, Nabiki, and he head to Tendo Dojo, along with school mates. Run into their first cases along the way. Expendable generic highschool student dies. Phone lines overwhelmed, panic ensues. Power fails. Water fails. Food runs out.

Nerima ward is defended at first, but the martial artists can't be everywhere at once, and people die. Food and water situation is problematic. People gather at the dojo, and it is overcrowded. Ramshackle defenses erected. Raids to gather weapons, food, and other necessities from stores commence. Capable martial artist begin zombie patrols in order to keep populations under control. As the number of survivors/rescued people increase, the decision is made to move with as many survivors as they can find out of the city, in order to better defend themselves and have access to land, water, etc.

Raids on camping stores to gather enough tents, camping supplies, knives, etc. Martial arts classes begin for all residents. Once all are packed, the move begins as fall draws to a close. The plan is to hike to the port, and take a ship to either tateyama or atami.

Winter:

The move to winter camp is brutal, as the first snows set in early due to the lack of vehicles, electricity, and other stuff to hold the weather at bay. The large column of moving people provided ample opportunities for zombie fodder, and the number is much reduced from the original. The battle at the port is fast and furious, and a number of people die trying to get on a transport. Once transport is secured, there's still a problem of getting there.

Most of the winter is spent simply trying to keep warm, fed, and the restive population under control. Construction of a palisade town, much in the fashion of an Amazon village, begins. Ku Lon is defacto leader. Romances heat up at this point. In addition, realization that normal social mores and expectations no longer hold. Ku Lon pressures Ranma (and others) into accepting that any fertile female should consider it a duty to procreate; exclusive relationships are a luxury that can't be afforded. Couples pair off. Optional lemons.

The zombie numbers seem to be tapering off, and in the deep winter few if any are spotted during scouting and raiding tours.

Spring:

Spring brings a resurgence of zombies. Realization sets in that the problem won't solve itself, as even the rotted corpses are animated and still lethal. Parties are no longer scout parties, but war parties designed to thin the numbers as much as possible, and search for other enclaves.

Unfortunately, the other enclaves they find are in a bad state. Some are basically sane but severely struggling, others have become feral. The process of bringing others into the fold becomes problematic, and conflicts break out. Some enclaves have guns, and the fighters get injured. One of the main cast of characters should die.

Of course tensions spike, but an outright conflict is avoided as it would be devastating for the complex. Spring planting begins; Kodachi, resident horticulturalist, supervises.

Summer:

Civilization has fallen. Commune sends out scouts to examine the rest other cities in Japan. Search for other communes proves unfruitful. Requisitions step up as realization this is a long term prospect sets in. Decision to save knowledge stepped up, and buildings, furniture, and other materials secured to create a bastion of learning martial arts and knowledge. First generation of children are born as the summer draws to a close. Fade away to contemplative mood, ending on positive note. "Perhaps this time, we'll get it right."

Flash forward

Year 5 – development of magic tech and ki tech – ability to re-industrialize and explore

Year 10 – eradication of scourge in Japan

Year 20 – First international expeditions to liberate other countries.

Survivors tales

* * *

><p><em>We didn't know it then, but it was the end of the world. Or at least, it was the end of the world as we knew it. I think that we'd been living with insanity so long it took us a while to realize that things weren't going to ever be "normal" again. <em>

Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Grappling School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, was currently ignoring the teacher droning away at the front of the room. Ms. Hinako Ninomiya was blabbering away about the growth rate of potatoes in English; Ranma was pretty confident he would never really need to know how to say, "this potato has eyes on it" in a foreign language. He couldn't even think of why he needed to know how to say that in his own language.

Ranma knew he wasn't a great student. That was okay, though. After all, he was a martial artist. Not only was he a martial artist, he was one of the best, period.

After the ordeal with Saffron and the failed wedding at the Dojo, instead he turned his attention away from the class and out the window, idly daydreaming as birds flitted to and fro in the late summer sky. The first couple of weeks back at school after the summer break were always the hardest, because he'd gotten a bit out of practice at paying selective attention.

In the distance, a black bird zoomed by. Quickly.

Instead of paying even the slightest bit of attention to Ms. Hinako Ninomiya, who was currently in her child form, Ranma looked out the window as another bird flew by. Correction, helicopter. A third followed. What was going on?


	6. Chapter 6

Danzo and sarutobi fight over naruto's future, and Danzo figures out that Naruto is the 4th's son. He tries to leverage that by blackmailing Sarutobi, but sarutobi calls his bluff. The word gets out to Iwa, and assassins come for naruto. Danzo is forced to flee when Sarutobi comes after him, but the damage is done.

Naruto is then subject to frequent assassination attempts. The Konoha ninja, as a result of Danzo's actions, learn Naruto is the 4th's kid, but are forbidden to tell him. Since he is no longer protected by anonymity, he is given one off trainings and hint as he is semi protected/adopted by the Konoha ninja corps and Kakashi in particular.

As a result, Naruto is still inquisitive and outgoing, but he's less in your face and idiotic. Having learned that standing out makes you a target, he blends in better, but still pranks as it is good practice at being a ninja. The frequent near death experiences has made him less Pollyanna, and though aware of the Kyuubi (Sarutobi is forced to tell him), he isn't aware of his father or why the Iwa ninja are out to get him.

Civilian reaction is hatred, ninja are ambivalent to pro, but there is a fear regarding naruto as each assassination attempt leads to the release of Kyuubi's chakra in the middle of town. Everyone has experienced it, and only the older ninja know what it is but refuse to say anything about it due to statute.

With Danzo gone, the Uchiha massacre happens, but rather than every last uchiha, only the adults and children over the age of 11 are killed.


	7. Chapter 7

AU

Plot synopsis - what would have happened if Jade had returned from Corruscant during her vacation? She returns to the Death Star before the Battle of Endor and takes part in the fight against Luke Skywalker. Jade's sent in to battle Luke between Vader fight and when the emperor decides to kill him, and manages to incapacitate her without killing her through diversions and clever force tricks (force push). She's concussed severely enough not to be able to fight anymore, but witnesses the death of the emperor. His last command - to kill Skywalker - is fulfilled when Vader dies. She's captured and left in the custody of the New Republic - & Luke.

Plot points:

- Her service transferred to Vader - thus, she's got antipathy towards Luke and loyalty issues, considering Vader offed the emperor.

-Jade is kept in captivity for her role in the Empire as Hand. She escapes, and Luke tracks her down of the course of several years and multiple encounters. Luke is always dogging her, even as he struggles to rebuild the Jedi order.

- She keeps escaping, even though the New Republic has a hefty price on her capture. She's wanted for the information she could potentially provide about the Emperor's operations, and to stand trial for her crimes as an assassin. Unfortunately, anyone outside of Jedi is unqualified to catch her.

- With each meeting, Luke attempts to get her to give herself up/turn herself in. He knows/can feel her force sensitivity, and wants to be able to train her. But doing so requires that she be willing to stand trial.

- They finally meet up on Mykry, the planet with yasilarmi, after 5 years and multiple encounters. She's working for Karde, & Thrawn has just put out his feelers - he's after Luke - Luke's hyper drive gets blown while escaping the interdicter cruisers, and Jake and the Wild Karde stop and pick him up.

- She, of course, has a very negative attitude, as he's been "harassing" her for years. Thrawn arrives, and they escape into the woods as per the book (canon), but the relationship is much different due to the long history they have together. no force training. She hates that she finds him competent - they talk about vader, the emperor, and 5 years of running away. During their time in the forest, they have a heated tryst - very much a grudge fuck.

- fueled by pent up anger, lust, danger, and wild animal attacks.

- Jade promises it won't happen again, but every time they meet up it always starts out as an escape that devolves into a physical tumble.

- When Luke's fighting his clone, they do the force connect thingy and they realize they need each other for balance.

chapter 1

- vacation ends

- Rebel Strike force assembles on Endor

- Fight with Vader

- Fight with Jade

- Fight with Emperor

- Flight from the star

Chapter 2 - Captivity

-interogation

- escape (with no fatalities)

- first run in with Luke - she gets away only because Luke lets her go due to a feeling in the force

- Stealing a ship - an old shuttle

CHapter 3 - odd jobs and odd encounters

-check wikipedia - where did jade go?

-run in w/ Luke - escapes usually because Luke is there for another reason/mission, and can't compromise. But they briefly tussle.

Chapter 4 - year 2 - mechanic

Chapter 5 - year 3 - body guard

Chapter 6 - year 4 - exotic dancer (good meat here!)

Chapter 7 - year 5 - Beginning of Thrawn Saga

Chapter 8 - forest romp

Chapter 9 - Morning after

Chapter 10 - Rescue from C'boath

Chapter 11 - last command -

- Luke and Clone fight

- Does she kill clone?

- Luke kills C'boath, but with her help

- Luke gives her light saber?

- she goes back to Karde, but conflicted

Chapter 12 - Many years later - Mara tracks down Luke - ready to start a life together.


	8. Chapter 8

What do you say when someone confesses that they love you?

Naruto had pondered over this question repeatedly while trudging back to Konoha. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he operated on autopilot, allowing his feet to carry him home as he ruminated on Hinata's confession declaration to him during Pein's attack on Konoha.

Trapped, pinned, and unable to move, Hinata had come to his rescue. He remembered the sinking feeling in his gut when Hinata had attacked, even though she knew it was doomed to fail. She had faced Pein boldly while telling him about her own insecurities and how Naruto had inspired her to become a better person. She had told him that it was his smile that had made her strong enough to keep going, and that she wasn't afraid to die to protect him.

She told she loved him. Then she attacked. She had moved with such skill and precision, and for a moment Naruto believed that maybe things would turn out alright.

They didn't. It hadn't mattered how graceful or powerful Hinata was; Pein crushed her like every other Konoha ninja he'd faced so far. Hinata hadn't backed down even as Pein's attack smashed her to the ground, nor did he hear her whimper as he moved to deliver the killing blow. Naruto's memory failed at that point, because his anger had overcome his reason and the Kyuubi's chakra took control.

He hadn't had a chance to see her in the aftermath of the battle. Duty had whisked him away before he'd had a chance to talk to her, even if only to make sure he hadn't been hallucinating when she'd said that. He really hadn't even time to reflect much on what she had said, as he was going from one important mission to the next with barely time to breath between them. First was the Hokage's summit. One thing led to another, and before he knew it he was fighting Itachi, then Sasuke, then whisked off somewhere to learn how to harness the Kyuubi's chakra without letting it's intentions influence his mind. In short, he'd been unable to return to Konoha since his fight with Pein.

His thoughts cycled back to the original question as the forests around Konoha became visible. What do you say to someone who loves you, particularly when you didn't even know that love was? Naruto had a lot of precious people, but then again, the whole of Konoha was precious to him, even those he didn't even know. For example, Sakura was one of his precious people, but then again, so were the children in the academy that he didn't even know.

But in Sakura's case, he was pretty sure he loved her. For the longest time, he'd thought his love for Sakura was more than platonic. He was ready for her in a heart beat, but over time he realized that he didn't want to kiss her so much any more. He still thought she was attractive, he didn't feel anything remotely similar to the sensation Jiraiya wrote about in Icha Icha Paradise. So, if what he felt for her was love, than what did Hinata's confession mean? Did she mean it was like he had with Sakura – a deep abiding affection between two people who'd suffered a lot together and come out stronger for it – or something else?

The love Naruto felt for other people – like Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the rest – was different again than what he felt for Sakura. The real problem was that he really didn't know what love was, exactly. He knew he wanted to protect those people and keep them safe, and that when they were hurt he hurt, regardless of if he was physically injured or not. But beyond that…?

But what made a precious person into someone you loved? And how could you even love something you didn't know? He was slowly coming to realize that love had as many flavors as Ichiraku's ramen.

He wished he could still talk to Jiraiya. Jiraiya's death was still hard. Naruto missed the pervert, even if he was sometimes annoying. But he'd give his left arm to be annoyed by the old pervert again, and to ask for his advice on this stuff with Hinata. Jiraiya had talked a lot about love when they were training together. Naruto knew that when Jiraiya spoke of love, he really meant lust. But, then again, Jiraiya was remarkably knowledgeable about this sort of stuff. You didn't get to be a spy master without knowing about people. Jiraiya, of all the people he could ask, would have been most capable of helping him sort all this stuff out.

The gates of Konoha drew nearer. Naruto's pace slowed. While he was eager to see his precious people again, he wasn't sure he was ready to face the village just yet, because that meant he'd have to figure out what to do about Hinata. He wasn't scared, or anything. It was just… What was he supposed to say? Thanks? I'm glad that you didn't die?

He couldn't face her yet because he still didn't know exactly what it was he felt for her. He owed it to her. She _was_ one of his precious people, and he'd failed to protect her from Pein. And yet, she'd been willing to sacrifice herself for him. Plus, she'd said exactly what he always had wanted to hear.

That he was loved.

He just wasn't sure if he was ready for that yet. Confused, and more than a bit wary, he slipped through the gates with a nod to the guards and headed to the Hokage's office.

Tsunade gave him a hug when he came in the office. He hugged her back. Like Jiraiya, Naruto knew that she was precious to him, and that he felt love for her like he felt for Sakura. But even with her large boobs, he had practically zero attraction to her. Jiraiya always said there was an element of attraction in love, but it didn't make sense in Tsunade's case. She was his baa-san, plain and simple. His report to the Hokage was brief. She knew most of what he needed to tell her, anyway. It was more just an excuse to see her and let her know that he was alright.


	9. Chapter 9

"Power up the Death Star!"

The technician started flipping buttons in the required sequence. Checking to make sure all lights were go, he turned and gave the thumbs up to the next technician who pulled a series of levers, bringing juice to the massive turbo laser.

Vader knew the Emperor would be pleased. Before the command to fire could be given, however, the lights in the station flickered suddenly before going dark. Someone tripped in the dark and started cursing loudly.

Red emergency lighting lit up a few moments later.

"It's okay! I think we blew a fuse! I'll go chang…urk…."

The technician never finished that statement as Vader shoved his head into a consol before stalking off the bridge.

"Thank you for calling the Death Star technical hotline. Your call is important to us. Please listen carefully as this menu has changed."

For Galactic basic press or say "One." Para español oprima o diga "Dos." For all other languages press or say "Three."

Vader, Sith Lord and commander of the supreme battle station, was not happy. He exhaled a breath through his ventilator, wishing he could smash the hologram in front of him.

I'm sorry. There seems to be static on your line and I did not understand you. For Galactic basic press or say "One." Para español oprima o diga "Dos." For all other languages press or say "Three."

"_One_."

Thank you for your interest in our service. If this is a true technical emergency, please hang up and dial the number on the upper left-hand corner of your Death Star technical manual. Otherwise, please stay on the line and all calls will be answered in the order in which they were received.

Remember, your call is very important to us, so please stay on the line.

All right, let's get started. For technical assistance for shuttle bay doors, press or say "Two." For technical assistance for the Death Star Super Turbo Laser™, press or say "Three." For Sith Lord forgiveness programs, press or say "Four." For Super Star Destroyer expansion pack technical assistance, press or say "Five." For all other assistance needs, press or say "Six."

_I guess...Er...Super laser — three. Three. [3]_

I think you said, "Two." Is this correct?

_No._

I think you said, "No." Is this correct?

_Yes._

O.K., let's try that again. For shuttle bay doors, press or say "Two." For technical assistance for the Death Star Super Turbo Laser™, press or say "Three."

_Three_.

— of forgiveness —

_Three! [3] [3]_

— For Super Star Destroyer expansion pack technical assistance, press or say "Five." For all other assistance needs, press or say "Six."

_Three._

I think you said, "Three." Is this correct?

_Yes. Correct. Yes_.

All right, let me see if I can help you. Please say the category of Super turbo laser for which you require technical help. For example, if you are the laser isn't firing at maximum capacity, say "Problem." If the laser color isn't a deep, vibrant green, say "color."

_Uh._

I'm sorry. I didn't understand your answer. Please repeat your answer slowly and clearly.

_The menu didn't even begin to make sense._

I think you said, "Vengeance." Is this correct?

_No_.

Good, because Vengeance is mine. Please repeat your answer slowly and clearly.

_Prob. Lem._

I think you said, "Problem." Is this correct?

_Yes. Correct_.

Thank you. Let me connect you to that department.

[Hold music: Pachelbel, "Canon in D" — tenor sax version (Kenny G)]

Please stay on the line. Your prayer is important to us. Your wait time is approximately seven minutes.

[Hold music]

We're sorry you are still on hold. We appreciate your patience and look forward to being of service.

[Hold music]

Thank you for holding. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please state the problem for which you would like help. For example, if you would like help healing someone who is sick, you could say, "Illness." If you would like help in making a woman who barely knows that you exist become interested in you romantically, you could say, "Wingman."

_No more menus_.

I'm sorry. I didn't understand your answer. Please state the problem for which you would like help.

_I want help without having to go through six levels of options._

I think you said you would like help with sexual dysfunction. Is this correct?

_No_.

I think you said, "No." Is this correct?

_Yes_.

O.K, please restate your problem. Speak slowly and clearly —

_I'm sick of these menus_.

I think you said you would like help curing a sickness. Is this correct?

_No, no, these menus are driving __me_ _crazy_.

I think you said you would like help dealing with a mental illness. Is this correct?

_No. No, no!_

I'm having difficulty understanding the problem for which you are seeking help. Please state your problem slowly and clearly.

_My problem is ... I ... forgot why I called_.

I think you said you no longer recall your problem. Is this correct?

_I guess. I don't know. Yes._

Excellent. We are pleased to have been of service. How else can we provide you with a wonderful day?


	10. Chapter 10

Albus Severus Potter, in the great tradition of the Mauraders and the deceased Fred Weasley, decides to prank his dad.

Except he miscalculates. He soaks a piece of instant skin with capciacin, cuts it into the shape of his dad's scar, and then manages to place it on his dad at some point.

It works. It causes Harry's scar to burn and itch, causing massive panic in the wizarding world when Harry lets it out that his scar is burning. THe whole wizarding world thinks voldemort's come back, and the whole thing spirals out of control before Albus can stop it.

Story ends with Albus facing the true wrath of Harry Potter.


	11. Chapter 11

The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the third age by some, an Age yet to come, an age long pass, a wind rose in the mountains of Iwa no Kuni. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was _a_ beginning.

Even though it was late spring, the wind began high in the snowcapped peaks of Iwa. Cold and unforgiving, it swept down the mountain sides, tearing through Iwagakure no Sato, forcing the residents who inhabited the seat of Iwa's power to clutch their coats and tighter to their bodies as they leaned into the wind. The wind didn't notice people in its passing, continuing onwards, ever onwards.

The wind gained momentum as it hit the alluvial flats that surrounded Iwa. These flats were brown and barren, with hardly a hint of green to be seen. But they had been the site of a great many battles, the most recent and harrowing ending with the butchering of an army of ninja arrayed against a single man, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha. It was there that the "flee on sight" order had been issued and Namikaze Minato gained moniker "The Yellow Flash." These details were lost on wind, however, as it swiftly raced across the flats before being forced to turn south as the mountains of Iwa blocked further forward motion. As it approached the border with Taki no Kuni, the wind picked up moisture from the river that determined the border and continued its journey across the vast steppes that comprised Kusa no Kuni, rippling the grass below as it blew, unimpeded in its journey as towards Hi no Kuni.

In the middle of that vast plain, a single worn white stone column sat, resting on its side. It had been there before Kusa no Kuni existed; it had been there before ninja even existed. History had no records of where this stone came from; runes of an unknown nature had once been carved into its side, but little remained of those now, as time and weather had reduced it to the barest semblance of worked stone. Many efforts had been made to move this column over the years, as various empires had tried to claim it as piece of history to glorify their existence, but it had resisted all attempts to remove it from this location. It endured, while the empires had tried to claim it faded away in the mists of time. Eventually, records of its existence were lost as wars flared up and cities burned. It had not been visited by humans since before the First Great Ninja War.

One small portion of the stone seemed to glow briefly, as a series of the obliterated runes became visible for the first time in eons. Where there had been nothing before, a man now knelt, one hand resting against the stone where the runes had glowed. The wind roared past, messing his hair and sending his cloak flaring behind him. The man didn't care in the slightest for his cloak, but a careful observer would have noted a slightly curved sword hanging from his belt. He shakily withdrew his hand from the stone, tracing the carvings under his palm with a finger with intense concentration. He drew out a sheet of parchment, and carefully transcribing the runes, noted the location on the column with as much precision as possible. These were not the runes that would take him home, but at least he now had a reference point for searching for those that would.

Eventually he stood slowly, idly pulling his cloak tight around his body as the wind continued to whip past. It would be hard to say exactly how old he was at this point in time, for he had the appearance of youth but the bearing of a man aged far beyond his time. His tall and sturdy frame easily topped most men by a hand or more, and his unruly dark red hair served to distinguish him further. His clothes were of the finest wool and best craftsmanship, but were unadorned and of muted colors. They served only to confirm what his bearing hinted; that this was a man who had and was used to commanding power. But these features were not what people noted most. It was his eyes that often attracted the most attention; blue-grey and piercing, they betrayed the fact that although his face was that of a youth, his eyes were those of a man hardened through suffering, pain, and death.

Those eyes had already borne witness to sufferings enough to fill any number of lifetimes. The corners of his eyes were pinched, both from the knowledge that he would see even more suffering in the future, and the pain that he lived with on a daily basis.

Rand Al'Thor surveyed the land around him, barely registering the wind that ruffled his hair as the gateway behind him closed. He stood tall, his regal bearing not marred by the fact that his left hand was missing from the wrist. The pain of losing his hand was a pinprick compared to the pain from the unhealed and unbearable wound in his side given to him long ago. That would never, could never be healed. It would kill him in the end, but his sacrifice would wash away the shadow in exchange for man's salvation.

He was many things to many people, and had as many titles to prove it. The Dragon Reborn, Car'a'carn, the Coramoor, the Chosen One; all meant the same thing – that he was the prophesied salvation of man, destined to fight the Dark One and die, spilling his blood on the black rocks of Shayol Ghul, the Dark One's prison.

That salvation would come at a heavy price – the blood of men and the destruction of the world as it was. Rand had already put paid a down payment in blood that soaked the lands from whence he came. Rand now knew that in every world the Creator choose one soul to fight the Dark One. That soul was bound to the Wheel and the Pattern, spun out again and again to confront the evil trapped by the Pattern.

In every world, the cycle was the same. The Dark One was sealed by the Creator of the Wheel and the Pattern, and his evil was unknown to the world. Man becomes curious, Man discovers the power that drives the Wheel, and in so doing, Man unleashes evil upon the world. The prison, made by the Creator, is broken by Man, and evil spreads to all corners of the world. In desperation, Man seeks to recreate what the Creator had wrought, but the solution is never perfect or as elegant as the original seal used by the Creator.

The Chosen One was the Creator's tool on earth to fix the problem, or at least, to seal the Dark One until Man, in his hubris, unleashed him again in the turnings of the Wheel.

Duty was heavier than a mountain, but death was lighter than a feather.

Rand was not here to die today. Disturbing visions had been coming to him in his sleep, all ending with him walking into a white archway filled with light buried deep in a dungeon. Night after night these visions returned, but he could remember nothing but the archway filling his vision as he walked into it, the light searing his eyes as he jolted awake. He had dreamed before, and had walked in the world that was of dreams but real. The word Tel'aran'rhiod floated from the recesses of his consciousness, thanks to his knowledge from Lews Therin.

He knew that whatever this arch was, the Pattern deemed it important enough to divert him from his war against the Shadow.

The pattern had forced him into many things over the course of his life. He no longer fought the Pattern as he had in his youth, even if that was but a few years ago. Rand allowed himself to be drawn to the ter'angreal in his dreams, located in the basement of the Stone of Tear. He walked in, secure in the knowledge that whatever role the Pattern had for him to play was yet unfulfilled, and the Pattern would not allow him to die. The light had filled his vision and knowledge had been burnt into his brain, but beyond the most rudimentary of details he could remember little.

But knew that he must come here to deliver a warning.

Where "here" was exactly was a question for scholars. It was a world apart, bound by the Pattern but independent from his own. Rand had experience traveling to other worlds before, but they were only pale reflections of the world he knew. This one was solid as his own world, but the knowledge imparted by the ter'angreal told him that it was as different from his world as it was possible to be.

He was here for a purpose. Man's salvation was in jeopardy. All worlds were linked to the Pattern; there were as many counterparts to his own world as a hall of mirrors had reflections. Unfortunately for Rand, if the Dark One managed to get free in any one world, it meant the Dark One was free in all worlds. That spelled more than the end of the world he knew. It meant the death of time itself and all of creation remade in the very image of the Dark One.

In this world, the Dark One was stirring, and the Chosen One had not yet been informed of his duty.

Rand's mission was simple. Identify the Chosen One, and set him on the necessary path. He didn't have a lot of time, nor was he here to guide his counterpart. But the Pattern demanded his assistance, and as he had for time immemorial, he responded to the call.

He didn't know where he was going, but it didn't matter. The Pattern would send him in the right direction. Rand closed his eyes briefly, concentrating on his senses. There. He felt it; a faint, almost imaginary pull to the south and east. He'd felt the like many times. A subtle urging from the Pattern, a pull on Ta'veren like himself that pulled them where they needed to be, rather than where they wanted to be.

He reached out to seize saidin, the male half of the One Power, to travel. He stopped, marveling at the feel of the power on this world. It was… as if he was linked with a woman again; both halves of the one power moved as he spun the weaves, even though he manipulated only saidin. That, more than anything else, told him this world was not his own. He attempted to create a gateway to travel, and discovered that he because he could not separate out the saidar from saidin, his weave collapsed upon itself before the gateway could form. Unused to weaving with both sides of the one power, unused to using _saidar_, the female half of the source, he'd been unable to form the weave properly.

A moment of panic struck, till unbidden the thoughts on weaving both halves of the power sprung to mind. He knew that these memories weren't his; rather they were Lews Therin Telamon, the Dragon. Still, they served his purpose.

He seized the one power again, and began the weaving necessary for a gateway. There was a brief flash of light as a small point of light appeared about waist-high on the plains, which began to elongate into a horizontal line of light the length of a horse. The line rotated vertically and split in half, the halves moving away from each other, leaving expanse of blackness, darker than the deepest night, in their wake. This blackness was featureless, and the wind was unable to shake this apparition, even as the apparition blotted out all the scenery behind it.

It fluctuated briefly, but then snapped into place. Rand frowned. The weave had behaved as if it wasn't supposed to exist. Rand shook his head. Different universe, different rules. He could feel a sense of urgency building. Without further ado, Rand Al'Thor stepped into the open gateway and skimmed in the direction he needed to go. He allowed the Pattern to pull him as he traveled, making minute adjustments to his course as he hopped from gateway to gateway. He needed to get this over with as quickly as possible. Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, was quickly approaching.

The fire was carefully built in a small pit cut into the sod so that the light wouldn't travel very far beyond the camp. The only reason Jiraiya could see it at all was that he was currently on small rise looking down at the camp site. He heard a rustling behind him, and signaled for silence. The rustling stopped, and after a few minutes his apprentice slithered up the side of the hill on his belly, carefully peaking over the crest of the hill to see what had spooked his teacher so much.

"What's up, ero-sennin?" Naruto whispered.

Jiraiya grimaced. "You tell me, kid," he replied, his voice focused and quiet, a change from his usually boisterous public persona.

Naruto looked over the hill again, surveying the fire. After a couple of minutes, he dropped his head again so that he was out of line of sight. "I see a small fire. Looks like it was built for a couple of people, max."

"What else?" Jiraiya probed.

Naruto rubbed his chin as he thought. After a few moments, he shrugged, admitting defeat. "Dunno."

Jiraiya sighed. "Think about it, Naruto. There isn't anything even remotely close to this area, so why set up camp out here? The nearest source of water is miles away, so unless they carried water with them, it means they probably have some means of making water for themselves."

Naruto's face hardened a bit as he understood. "Ninja." It wasn't a question.

Jiraiya nodded. "Most likely. What makes it even worse, is that whoever is down there wanted to be seen, or they wouldn't have built that fire. It was intended for us to see it."

"Which means they know where out here." Naruto said.

"Right." Jiraiya grunted. "I can rule out Konoha, since I've not told anyone where we were headed. Which means…"

Neither of them spoke, but the word "Akatsuki" hung in the air between the two of them. Both slid down the hill a bit, careful to stay out sight. With as much care as he could manage, Naruto formed a couple of shadow clones. One transformed into a small woodland creature with a puff of smoke, and climbed back up to the top of the hill to keep watch.

The second turned into a bat, and taking to the night skies flew over the hill and towards the camp fire. It reached the fire in a few minutes, and swooped around the campfire for a few minutes before heading out towards the plains to dispel.

Naruto grunted as the clones memories returned to him. Jiraiya looked at him questioningly. He held up a single finger. "Alone – definitely wearing a cloak, but it didn't look like one of theirs. He's just resting against a log, and looking up the hill towards our position."

"Are you sure he's alone?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, but I couldn't see or sense anyone else." He paused. "What do you want to do?"

"He's obviously waiting for us. Let's go see what he wants." He moved to stand, but before he did so grabbed his apprentice's collar and pulled him close. "Listen, Naruto."

The blonde looked at him strangely. "Yeah?"

"We've got no way of knowing what's waiting down there for us. I want you to be prepared to run at the first sign of trouble."

"What?" Naruto looked outraged, but at least managed to keep his voice down. "I'm not runnin' away!"

Jiraiya's eyes grew hard. "Listen, runt. If he's really with the Akatsuki, then he's after you. If you run, you might be able to get away. But if you stick around to help me, you'll get us both killed. I can't fight my best if I got to worry about you at the same time. Got it?"

Naruto looked rebellious, but nodded sullenly. Jiraiya released his collar. Naruto mumbled under his breath as he tugged his jacket to adjust his collar, but didn't say anything otherwise.

"All right." Jiraiya cracked his knuckles. "Let's go say 'hi.'"

Rand could feel him getting closer. It was as if... he felt an echo in his soul. He could understand now what had happened to Padan Fain, and how maddening it must be for him now to be in a place where he could not follow. The thought brought a bitter smile to Rand's face, but he quickly let it fade as his... echo approached.

The wards he'd set indicated he was not alone.

run backwards. A person who sleeps for fifteen minutes can not go back in time in the World of Dreams, just as a person who spends several hours in Tel'aran'rhiod cannot wake up earlier than the original time that they went to sleep.

A person who visits the Unseen World while sleeping does not get the same rest as someone who sleeps and dreams normally throughout the night.


	12. Chapter 12

~~~~~~~~~~ Prologue ~~~~~~~~~~

In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against

the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.

Xander examined the price tag of the costume and wince, allowing it to fall back to the rack. How someone could justify charging $25.99 for a pirate's eyepatch? It was criminal. He continued to browse through the shelves, stopping to check prices on a couple of promising looking costumes, but nothing fell within his price range. Two dollars wasn't a lot of money, and unfortunately the toy gun he had eying got sold to some little snot-nosed kid before he could grab it. As much as he wanted to go as a soldier, even he didn't have the heart to take a plastic toy away from a five year old unless that five-year old happened to be a vampire. So here he was, checking prices and looking for something, anything, that could put together on his shoe string budget, Army fatigues be damned.

He eventually found a small plastic japanese style sword for a buck and a half. He had no idea what he'd wear with it, though, as he had nothing even closely resembling a Japanese robe. To add insult to injury, there was a couple of lick and stick tattoos at the register for a quarter each. Butterflies and pumpkins didn't really appeal to his sensibilities, so he grabbed a matching pair of yellow and gold chinese dragons to go with the sword to keep with the oriental theme. That left his with a seriously weak costume, so some creativity would be necessary at home.

Willow had purchased her costume while he was browsing, so he made his way over to where she was chatting with Buffy.

"Hey Xander, what did you get?" Willow asked as he approached.

He pulled out the sword and held it up.

"That's not a costume." Buffy declared.

"I was going to go with a soldier outfit since I had some old fatigues at home, but..." he shrugged. "For two dollars, I'll be able to figure something out."

Buffy paused. "Hey, look Xander - I'm really sorry about this morning."

"Do you mind, Buffy? I'm trying to repress."

She pouted and put her head on his shoulder. "Okay then, I promise. From now on I'll let you get pummeled."

Xander rolled his eyes at that, but still said thank you. He was in the process of telling her that he thought he could have taken Larry when Buffy brushed by him, eyes locked on the pink 18th century gown.

"It's beautiful." she whispered.

"Too bulky," said Xander. "I prefer my women in spandex." However, seeing the costume made some wheels turn in his head, as he started thinking about possible wardrobe choices that could be made from some old clothes from his closet, some frilly shirts left over in the attic from his parents glory days in the 70's, and a pair of tight britches. It just might work, particularly if he could find something that would accentuate his less than stellar physique.

Ethan, the costume store owner, came out from behind the curtain and began to discuss the gown with the Slayer, insisting that she take it. The two haggled a bit over the price, but Ethan really did mean it when he said it was an offer she couldn't refuse. The cost of the rental for the dress was song, and before long the trio was at the register and out the door, costumes in hand.

When Buffy opened the door later that night to admit Xander, she had to admit she was surprised by his costume. He was wearing cowboy boots with tight brown pants tucked in the tops, a wide black leather belt, and a white button down shirt with frills and ruffles running up the front of the shirt until the collar. The sleeves had bits of lacy frills around the edges.

"Lord Harris has arrived to escort..." He blinked as he saw Buffy.

They stared at each other gobsmacked. Xander recovered first, as he reached forward and took her hand, bowing low over the back of it as he bent one knee and touched the heel of his other foot to the ground, doing his best impression of a royal. "My Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!"

She giggled a bit as she curtsied. "Thank you, kind sir." She noticed a flash of gold as Xander moved to pull his hand away, but her reflexes were better than his. She grabbed his hand and pulled the sleeve back a bit, seeing the golden and red dragon tattoo on the back of his hand and forarm.

"The back of the hand? Really?" She asked.

Xander shrugged. "I couldn't think of where else to put them, and this seemed right."

"So what are you?" Buffy made hand motions for him to turn around. The britches were quiet snug, and the shirt had almost as many ruffles as her gown. He looked ridiculous and horribly old fashioned, but at the same time the snug britches rather flattered. He had a small plastic sword sticking out of off his belt, and a rather large rhinestone belt buckle to complete the ensemble.

"I figured I'd go as your male counterpart. You know, Duke and Duchess of Sunnydale."

She fingered some of the ruffles on his shirt. "The shirt?"

"My dad's."

Willow came down the stairs at that moment, wearing the ghost uniform, "Boo" spelled out across the front in bold letters. Buffy was disappointed in her friend for not showing off her outfit, but school and sugar-hyped little monsters (read, children) were waiting for them at school. Snyder was his usual charming self, and once the kids had been given to their volunteer chaperones, everyone headed off to do rounds and collect as much booty as possible. Xander was quick to instruct his charges on how best to weasel the maximum amount of candy per house, admonishing them that while the "hey, you missed me," route was open, it was risky. Tears and pouting faces were by far the best options.

The trick-or-treating was proceeding fine until just a few minutes before six. Buffy paused as a strong wind began to blow, stirring up leaves. Something about it blew ill, tickling the sixth sense all Slayers had in the presence of evil as the hairs on her back of her neck stood upright.

As the wind died down, the rustle of leaves was replaced by the sound of screams.

Rand al'Thor rolled over from where he woke in the grass and pushed himself to his knees, looking around wildly as he tried to gain sense of his bearings. He had no idea where he was or how he got here. This didn't seem to be the a dream that was not a dream, as the colors were too vivid, the objects too solid. The grass beneath him smelled familiar and yet unlike anything he seen before, and oddly shaped houses lined a road that was illuminated not with torches but with what seemed to be ter'angreal glowing brightly at regularly spaced intervals. The houses were also all glowing brightly, though the street they sat on was blacker than the night itself, absorbing the light that hit its surface. A self-propelled cart with brightly shining lanterns embedded in the front rolled down the road, the quiet roar of its passage belying the speed of is movement. It resembled the visions he had seen from the Age of Legends when he had stepped through the rings at Rhuidean, earning the dragon tattoos that adorned the back of his hands and arms.

This wasn't the Age of Legends, though. Beyond the strange light sources, he could not feel the One Power being used. It was there, as always, a constant presence in the back of his head just waiting to be used. The taint of evil also hung heavy in the air, making him frown. It had the feeling of... A lady screamed, only to be cut with a suddenness that spoke of a violent and painful end. Rand sprung to his feet and looked around only to see creatures running from house to house, breaking into the domiciles and perpetuating violence on the dwellers within.

They were not Trollocs, but they oozed corruption that he could feel in his bones. A sword of flames leaped into his hands instantly as Rand reached out and grabbed the Saidin, the male half of the One Power, filling himself near to bursting with the power. The Power roared, a bonfire that would consume him instantly if he were careless for a moment. It was like trying to hold onto a river of frozen fire and burning ice, though at the same time, he felt more alive that ever as his senses improved. It felt as if the cotton that had been stuffed into his ears had been removed and lenses that obscured his vision taken away as sounds and colors became sharper and more vivid. The smells of the neighborhood, only faintly noticed before, assaulted his nose.

At the same time he felt the taint of Saidin settle into his bones. The taint was the Dark One's counterstroke against Lews Therin and his companions at the end of the War of Power. Like those before him, the taint that would eventually drive a male channeler mad, or cause his body to rot around him, or both. To channel the male half of the One Power was to be tainted, as you could not access the Power without first touching the Dark One's taint. It was like oil poured on the surface of an ocean of clean water contaminating everything that attempted to reach to the purity below.

The thought made him pause. He could remember cleansing Saidin with Nyneave at Shar Logoth. They had used the Chodan Khal and cleansed both Saidin and the cursed city at the same time. He turned, and noticed something else. The wound given to him over Falme by Ismael was gone. There was no pain. Nor could he feel his bonds with Elayne, Avienda, and Min. There was only a vast feeling of corruption that permeated the entire area, strong enough to make him feel physically ill.

Something was horribly wrong.

He turned, noting the numbers of creatures running around. Rand prepared a rather nasty weave of earth and fire, but before he could release it he was startled by a scandalously dressed woman who jumped in front of him and started shouting at him. He was sufficiently startled that he released his weave, causing a section of the road behind the woman to erupt in a burst of flame, sending the creatures in the area screeching and running for cover. Annoyed that she caused him to miss, Rand moved to push the woman aside, but stumbled when his arm passed through her.

He stared at her perplexed. She stared at his sword and the still smoking street, equally perplexed.

"Xander?"

Rand ignored her. He would deal with the dead and the spirits of the deceased later. For now he had to act. There were too many strange things going on, but regardless of if this was a plot by one of the remaining Forsaken or the start of Tar'mon Gaiden itself, he would not give up without a fight. He began preparing another weave, catching sight of a cluster of creatures running to the nearest house. She must have realized he was doing something, because again she jumped in front of him and shouted at him. "Xander, no! You can't hurt them. They are children!"

"I don't know any Xander. My name is Rand al'Thor. What do you mean, they are children?"

The spirit began speaking at a blistering pace, explaining about the children became the costumes they had donned for the festival night. So it was a bubble of evil. While each one was different, at least he knew generally how to deal with it. Rand wove weaves of air, immobilizing the creatures in the immediate vicinity and tying off the weaves as he stalked down the street. He had to first deal with this current bubble, then find out where he was. The spirit followed, complaining the whole time that he had to find someone named Buffy.

He ignored her, concentrating instead on quelling the effects of the bubble. He stalked down the street, his sword of fire glowing in his fist as he wrapped demon after demon in thick weaves with complex knots in an attempt to make them difficult to unravel. The process of doing so made Rand realized that while he was very good at destroying creatures of the Dark One, he had relatively few non-lethal weaves that he could use to immobilize or capture an enemy, and he had nothing that could be used to effect a large area. Eventually the babbling spirit stopped trying to get his attention and ran off towards one of the houses in an attempt to help some lady to her feet. Based on her dress, she looked to be some noble woman.


	13. Chapter 13

Slightly dark humor:

With the seal having been torn off and replaced, and also with the Kyuubi's chakra being torn from her, she's pinned down.

But Naruto didn't take her will.

As the seal is weakened with time, the Kyuubi manages to slip her will into one of Naruto's shadow clones.

However, lacking access to her vast stores of Chakra, about the most the Kyuubi can do is annoy him. But, it makes Naruto less likely to use his favorite Jutsu, because he can never tell when the fox will manage to slip some of it's will into one of his clones.

Eventually, the physical manifestation of Hate (the opposite side of love) obsesses over making Naruto's life miserable. The purpose is to try and get Naruto to try and release the seal or at least relinquish her chakra. All efforts fail, but as people quarrel more they get even closer. Unfortunately, things get a bit out of hand, and Naruto and the Kyuubi end up taking a roll in the hay.

The end of the story; the Kyuubi can never come out from behind the seal, but an increasing amount of affection develops between the two due to Naruto's Naruto-ness – i.e. he makes everyone love him, or at least accept him.

The ways in which the Kyuubi annoys Naruto – impersonations of him that create scenes or cause him to look stupid/perverted;

Messing with his love life;

Interfering with fights and causing him to get hurt

From within her prison the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox of legend, seethed. She was most powerful chakra construct since the primordial ten-tailed beast, the Jyuubi, and yet she was powerless before these hairless monkeys that had managed to imprison her within yet another one of their frail and pathetic mortal bodies.

The Kyuubi had no memory of the defeat of the Jyuubi by the Sage of the Six Paths; however, like all things, the Kyuubi had ancestral memories of the time before the Juubi's chakra was divided. How the pathetic monkeys had managed to manipulate the beasts into an unending cycle of destruction and confinement was still a mystery, but, being the strongest of the bijuu, the Kyuubi retained more the Jyuubi's original will and intelligence than the rest of the tailed beasts.

That formidable intelligence was dedicated now to engineering her release. The Kyuubi vowed this would be her last imprisonment. Even though she was a timeless being, ever since that damnable Mangekyo Sharingan and Uchiha clan had appeared her freedom had been constrained. She'd reigned undisputed as the most destructive force in the world, only to be controlled by a hairless monkey gifted with a fraction of the Jyuubi's powers. Madara had first controlled her to fight the Senju clan, leading to her imprisonment. She'd enjoyed a brief period of freedom when Madara had broken the seal on Kushina Uzumaki years ago to destroy Konoha, but the fourth Hokage of Konoha, Namikaze Minato, had sacrificed himself to seal the demon inside his own son, Naruto Uzumaki.

She would not give up her own existence to resurrect the Jyuubi, nor would she allow the vessel she was imprisoned in to die until she'd found some way to have that damnable seal put in place by the Fourth Hokage removed. She was a being of infinite patience, fearsome intelligence, and cunning wit. With the demise of the Uzumaki clan, the knowledge of the seal that kept her imprisoned had vanished with the deaths of the Fourth Hokage, the Third Hokage, and Jiraiya the Toad Sage.

The Uchiha clan only had two survivors now. That clan was soon to end; even Madara would eventually succumb to time. She was not so constrained. She was separated from her chakra and had lost the easiest means to influence her host. But she wasn't powerless. When her host started experimenting with shadow clones to speed up the learning process, she'd implement a stratagem that ultimately could lead to her freedom.

Sealed as she was, her power was as a grain of sand in comparison to the mountain at her disposal before. Delicacy was called for in this situation, though, as brute force was likely to bring the whole thing crashing down on her head. But subtlety and stealth, like a brown recluse on under the quilt at bedtime, would produce more results than reckless behavior. An insect bite left untreated could infect a leg and turn it gangrenous if it wasn't noticed. A small tendril of pure malice leaked out through the bars of her prison, hovering above the dank water that was ever present in Naruto's mindscape. It coalesced to resemble a candle flame, but before it could dissipate, the Kyuubi brought the entirety of her will to bear upon it. It wavered, hesitated, but didn't lose form. It flickered there, sputtering and guttering as it burning above the water, pushed about by an unseen and unfelt breeze.

The Kyuubi grinned wickedly.

It was little more than her desires given form. It's reactions would be sluggish, and once released, it would be beyond her control. But it was a start.

Naruto was training. The water level in the sewers swelled rapidly as vast quantities of chakra was used to summon a horde of shadow clones. The flame of her intentions was swept up in the flood. A few moments later, a memory returned to her the shadow clone, possessed by her desires, was subdued by the mokuton wielding Yamoto.

The glimpse of the outside world was heartening. She formed another flame outside the bars of her prison, waiting for the next surge of chakra. Deprived of her unlimited power, the Kyuubi was left with only patience. Patience and persistence would triumph where brute force had not.

The assault on the seal began, unnoticed by her jailor.

XXX

Naruto kicked back on the grass in the pre-dawn light, idly scratching at his belly as he watched the clouds above drift lazily by. There were quite a number of benefits of having unfettered access to the virtually limitless chakra of the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox, sealed inside his stomach.

The amount of energy at his disposal was ridiculous, even by his own standards. Between the chakra from the Kyuubi, his own supply, and that he had access to from communing with nature, he would never needed to work on his chakra supply. Instead, he'd trained like mad to work on his control and ninjutsu, since supply would never be an issue. Creating thousands of shadow clones at once barely left him winded anymore. His stamina, already freakish before coming back from Lighting, was now approaching frightening levels. Forcing the Kyuubi into giving up its chakra had been a bigger power boost than he'd imagined.

One of the benefits was that he could take some time to watch clouds. He no longer really needed to sleep – the amount of chakra circulating through his system now acted like a huge cup of coffee. He was wide awake at pretty much all hours now, and even when he tried to sleep he could only do so for a few hours at a time before he woke up completely refreshed.

Frankly, Naruto was bored. Since coming back from the Land of Lightning, things were pretty quiet. His search for news of either the Akatsuki or Sasuke had been useless, as so far he'd found neither hide nor hair of the organization. He'd been filling that time up with missions, seeing friends, and generally trying to figure out what the Akatsuki and Madara were up to next. But that left him with a lot of free time, and given his previous experiences fighting members of the Akatsuki, he filled that time with training.

He'd woken up well before the sun. None of the stores were open yet, and he didn't really have a valid excuse for bugging the Hokage this early in the morning. Instead, he had decided to take a page out of Shikamaru's book and find a place to relax. Laying on top of the Hokage monument and watching clouds while scratching his belly wasn't a bad way to spend half an hour waiting for the world around him to face the day.

He scratched his belly again and frowned slightly. It had been itching pretty much non-stop since the whole ordeal with the Kyuubi back in Lightning. Oh well. Naruto gave the mental equivalent of a shrug and decided to see if Tsunade had some sort of cream she could give him to help keep the itching at bay. Cheered by the thought that he now had a valid reason to bug the Hokage, Naruto leapt up from the ground and sauntered in the direction of the Hokage's tower.

That damnable seal!

Even though she pinned in place by the shrine gates Naruto had summoned when he ripped away her chakra away, she could still act. Though she couldn't even vent her frustration by lashing her tails against the bars as she had done before, her anger and malevolence was too great to be contained within her body. It was a physical entity, and even as it simmered and circulated through her body, small quantities leaked out and dissipated into the air surrounding her.

The Kyuubi growled. She focused her will, concentrating the small quantities of her chakra that were leaking into the air into a single, tenuous physical manifestation of her malice, sadism, and hate. It resembled nothing more than a thin line of fog. It wasn't much, but it at least gave her some way of interacting with her prison. The seal had been changed to something she couldn't recognize after her latest encounter with her jailor. She also had no way of properly examining the seal for structural weakness from behind her prison. The best she could do was to continue to probe blindly at the seal and hope for some sort of reaction. So far, she'd accomplished little but refining her control over the ability to manipulate the physical manifestation of her will. She called it a new tail, but it was a pale comparison to one of the real appendages. It was all she had to work with, though, so she made due.

She pulled her new tail away from the seal, a bit frustrated with her lack of progress. Beyond her prison, the streams of chakra moved rapidly as her host channeled huge amounts of chakra repeatedly. She had no idea what he was doing, but he seemed to be profligate with the use of the stuff since gaining control of her supply. Frustrated, she lashed out with her anger and slapped the surface of the stream with her hate, watching as it dispersed uselessly in the water, too dilute to convey any of her intentions.

She tried again, thrusting some of her intent into the stream of chakra to watch it his and bubble away, returning to a tranquil state almost immediately after she withdrew her new 'tail.' Watching the taint in the chakra be swept away gave her an idea. A diffuse amount of intent was no good against the torrent of chakra. But what about a super condensed pearl of loathing?

She concentrated as hard as she could, gathering as much of her intent as she could before her and compressed it into a ball. It sprung into shape, loosely formed and vaguely transparent. It wouldn't work, but this was only for proof of concept. Gingerly, she dropped the ball of hate into the flowing stream of chakra.

It hissed and danced across the surface like a water drop on a hot piece of iron, and just as rapidly dissipated before it could be dragged down the stream and turn into something useful. The Kyuubi still watched it with interest, though. She returned to her examinations of the seal, but the image of the small ball of intentions, skittering across the surface of the chakra, remained with her even so.

xxxx

"That cream you gave me cleared that itching right up!" Naruto dodged the thrown ashtray and the thrown sake bottle, but unfortunately both of those were simply decoys. The paperweight caught him right on the forehead and sent him crashing to the ground.

Tsunade smiled. "Glad to hear it. So, are you ready for your next mission?"

Naruto popped back up immediately. "Finally! It only took you a couple of months!"

Tsunade glared at the hyperactive blond and lifted a glass threateningly. Naruto quailed slightly, but nevertheless still looked immensely relieved to have something to do again. "Alright, brat. Listen up. The mission's right up your alley. It's not combat, but it is immensely important. Got it?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Not combat? Man, that sucks!"

"Well, get used to it. With the destruction of Konoha, all our food stores got demolished. We need to replenish them fast before the winter, and Konoha can't afford the manpower necessary to escort the caravans in with the grain."

Naruto nodded, seriously this time. "And if we can't get grain in…"

"People starve." Tsunade picked up a piece of paper and handed it to him. "We're vulnerable right now, and the other elemental nations know this. Why fight a war if you can just kill everyone off through starvation?"

Naruto grimaced and read the mission read out. "Seriously? You want me to do this? I haven't done a B ranked mission in years."

Tsunade sighed. "Yeah, but this mission is tailored made for you. Go to Wave. Pick up forty tons of grain, and escort it back under armed guard. With your bunshin, you can do this one by yourself, free up the other ninja and merchants to do equally important work. Even if I pay you ten times the going rate for this mission, you'll still be saving Konoha butt loads of money in the long run."

Even though it wasn't quite what he was expecting, Naruto accepted after haggling a bit over the pay. He didn't really care how much he got paid, but he had to put on a show for the Hokage's sake. He quickly packed his bags and headed to Wave. He had a delivery to make.

xxxx

Even though it was physiologically impossible for a metaphysical manifestation of hatred and malice to sweat, the Kyuubi felt as though she should be drenched in perspiration as she concentrated on condensing every ounce of her intention on the rapidly spinning ball of negativity that hovered before her eyes.

She'd stopped probing at the seal. It would be close to impossible for her to make any modifications to the seal without Naruto's cooperation. She'd come so close to freedom during the fight with Pein, but the chakra of Minato Namikazi had broken through to her vessel and prevented him from tearing the seal asunder and setting her free. While she couldn't affect the seal from within her prison, maybe she could modify it from without?

The question had driven her to find some manner to affect the world outside of her prison. The only instrument she had available to her was her will, and separated from her chakra, it was a weak tool indeed. She'd been able to hijack Naruto's clones before with just her chakra. However, those clones had been worse than useless as they were little more than mindless beasts, easily subdued by Yamato during training.

But she was confident she'd found a way. This was something else. She poured every ounce of her will into her construct, focusing intently on making sure her intellect carried over. She would have a chance to test it soon.

xxx

Naruto was glad to see Wave again. The trip from Konoha was much faster now as an adult. He'd forgotten to account for his increased speed, and had arrived as the sun was setting, leaving him with extra time to kill as his contact wasn't expecting him till the next morning. He spent the time wandering around the village, taking in the sights. The bridge was just as impressive as he remembered it, and since the weather was sunny and the air mist free, he was able to take in the rather impressive vista from the bridge that he'd missed last time.

The scenery wasn't the only nice thing he noticed. The despair and hopelessness that had been ever present before under Gato's thumb was gone, replaced with a sense of optimism and energy from the people. Even though it was sundown, the streets were packed with crowds milling about, engaged in commerce, conversation, and life. Where people had shuffled listlessly in the streets, they now moved with a sense of purpose. People who refused to meet the eyes of strangers were now smiling in the streets and holding their heads up proudly.

The formerly ramshackle houses had been given a bit of tender loving care; fresh paint and construction was apparent everywhere as he strolled down main street. Fruit and vegetable vendors had a wide variety of wares for sale and the prices were competitive with what he'd seen elsewhere on his way in.

Seeing how much things had improved in the intervening years made his heart swell to bursting with joy. Inari had grown from a little shrimp into a teen; Tazuna looked younger than he had the first time Naruto had seen him. With the Great Naruto Bridge complete and the economy on the upswing, the absence of stress had smoothed some of the deeper wrinkles that lined the old man's face.

The evening was spent with Tazuna's family. Tsunami cooked a fantastic meal, and Tazuna plied Naruto with a great deal of liquor while said ninja regaled Inari with tales of his exploits and derring-do. It was a great time, and by the time Naruto stumbled off to bed, his head was spinning so much that he didn't even notice his stomach itching.

xxx

The Kyuubi felt the surge of chakra coming before it reached her cage. Carefully placing her construct in the way of the flow, she watched with anticipation as it was swept away in the flood intact.

She grinned.

xxx

The clone with the Kyuubi's consciousness blinked, and looked around. She recognized the bridge named after her jailor, but the line of wagons bearing bulging sacks was new to her. It had worked! She was so giddy at the prospect of having unfettered access to the outside world that she failed to pay attention to the fact that there were droves of clones scurrying around her.

"What are you waiting for, dummy? Get to work!"

She turned to see another Naruto clone busily tying down a cart behind her. The motion caused her to stumble though, as she wasn't used to balancing in this form. Thankfully, she stumbled into the cart she was standing by clumsily reached for the wagon bed to stabilize herself. Watching the other clone surreptitiously from the corner of her eye, she began mimicking the motions, though the process was more difficult than she thought as she wasn't used to this body, and wasn't used to operating fingers.

In addition to not having control over this body, her senses were dulled. Her hearing sounded as if she were underwater, though that was made up for by the vivid colors her eyes detected. Cursing as she fumbled the rope yet again, she wondered how these miserable creatures had ever managed to dominate her with such frail and useless appendages.

The clone that yelled at her frowned. "What the matter with you?"

Rather than respond, she simply concentrated on learning how to control her new form. With a "tsk," the other clone pushed her out of the way and tied the rope down in a practiced manner before turning back to its own cart.

The trip back to Konoha was thankfully long and boring. The long part helped, as there was plenty of time to learn how to first walk, then run, jump, and otherwise do physical activities as she struggled to learn to control her new form. The boring helped with her cover, as she didn't look out of place as she tried random activities. Given Naruto's short attention span when not occupied with a task, the other clones were engaged in similar activities to relieve their boredom.

The three day long walk back to Konoha gave her ample time to get used to the new form. That's when she started to catalog the handicaps. She had a pitiful amount of chakra at her disposal, given that she only had the clone's reserves at her disposal. Second, being a clone got her no closer to the seal, as the seal didn't carry across

The Fourth's seal had already broken once, and even now its integrity was questionable. It gave her hope. Even prisons of the hardest stone and the toughest steel couldn't stand up to the gentle and unyielding persistence of water. Like water, she would continue to probe the seal for any weakness, exploiting the gaps she found and creating enough space for her to eventually break free. Until her freedom was assured, however, the brat would live.


End file.
